It was a summer of travel and adventure for British photographer and filmmaker Alice Greenfield, who took to the sun-drenched planes and dust of the Okavango Delta, Botswana, relying on her tough and trusty Sony Alpha 7 IV to capture every step of incredible journey.

Alice’s life now is far different from when she lived and worked in London; “I spent every weekend leaving London and heading to the countryside or coast,” says Alice. “I think that we are all the best versions of ourselves when we are outside; that is where we are meant to be. We are nature, and we belong there.”

Trusting her instincts and leaving the city has led Alice to follow her passion for being in nature, with her work now taking her on adventures worldwide creating content for the outdoor and travel sectors.

At Camp Kwapa, Alice used her Alpha 7 IV to capture marketing materials for a rural safari experience guided by Natucate and the The African Guide Company, guided by Alan McSmith. “Often when we think of a safari, we think of air-conditioned jeeps and beautiful luxury tents, but this was different; it is about getting people out to see what this environment is like, offering a meaningful and sustainable experience through volunteering and getting a real connection to nature like no way before. We were learning survival and tracking skills as we were walking off the beaten path into the open Planes of the Delta” she recalled.

Alice’s goal wasn’t to shoot wildlife but to capture the human element of the safari. “I am not traditionally a wildlife photographer, but it was an incredibly interesting task to capture the way we interact with this environment”, she continues “As I’m not a wildlife photographer; I didn’t take any long lenses with me - I don’t even own one. I also had a stringent weight limit for what I could take, so I packed just two lenses, the FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II and the FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II along with a 1.4x teleconverter for when I needed a little extra focal length to shoot some wildlife.”

The 24-70mm lens became Alice’s go-to lens for many moments of the trip. “I was also shooting video content, for which the 24-70mm is perfect. It gave me the zoom range to capture all of those lifestyle aspects of the trip, the human interaction between everyone, and that magic when everyone just sits around the fire making their morning coffee. I also used it to capture some incredible shots of the beautifully clear Milky Way over the Planes. It was the perfect lens for all of it”.

Despite the emphasis on documenting the people, one of Alice’s favourite moments and images was of wildlife. “We were in one of the few places in Africa where the elephant population is increasing. The elephants stay near this camp as they pump water to create lagoons for them to come and survive. We had so many elephant encounters over the ten days, but there was one shot that I had to really work for. I wanted to capture the elephants always coming to the same watering hole in the early evening. The land was dry and there was dust kicking up from the elephants as they finally came through. After hours of waiting in position, I got this incredible backlit shot, with a beautiful composition. But when I knew I had the shot, I remembered putting my camera down and enjoying the once-in-a-lifetime moment.”

As a hybrid shooter, she cannot live without one feature of the Sony Alpha 7 IV: switching custom settings between video and photo. “I’ve set up my video mode for shooting at 25 or 25fps in 4k. But then, if I need to take some photos, I can switch to my photography mode, with all of my favourite exposure and image settings ready to go. In just a fraction of a second, I can change modes and start shooting.”

For shooting commercial images closer to home, Alice also shoots with an Alpha 7R V, but the Alpha 7 IV is still what she describes as her ‘workhorse’ camera. “If I am going somewhere remote, I can count on it”, says Alice. “In Botswana it was so dusty, especially as they are going through a drought. I made sure that I kept everything clean, but I didn’t think too much about protecting the camera; I know it is tough and reliable. I see the camera as a tool, it might not look so pretty anymore, but I know I can count on it wherever I am in the world.”